Chapter 26: Round Up Part 1
Fury led the heroes deeper into the bunker, into a large lounging quarter filled with superheroes taking care of their wounds and grief. Several computer monitors lined the wall, and at the end of the room was a glass display case holding a small, hand-held metallic device.
Drawing attention to the newcomers, Tony Stark looked over his shoulder and got to his feet. His movement made the others' heads lift, and they watched him as he approached the newcomers. "Good to see you, turtles," he said, as a few others brought hot food and water to the exhausted group.
A teenage boy with tousled brown hair approached April and Casey, holding a plate of food. "Would you like something to eat—" he started, but jumped as he recognized the two. "April? Casey?"
"Peter Parker!" Casey said, laughing. "Just when we think today can't get any crazier. You a super or something, yo?"
"Uh, yeah," Peter stammered. "I mean no, I mean . . . okay yes. Yes, but you can't tell anybody. If we make it out of this."
"Thanks, Pete," April said, taking the plate of food. "And don't worry. We're gonna make it out okay. Feels like just yesterday we were in Mr. Quesada's Geoscience second period."
"Yeah," Peter said, grinning. "Seems pretty trivial now."
"How long have you been down here, Fury?" Strange asked, drinking from a water bottle handed to him by Captain America.
"A week," Fury said. "I was the first." He gestured around the room at the others. "The rest of these guys have been filing in all week. What the hell took you so long, Master of the Mystic Arts?"
"Your robot messenger didn't deliver his message till a few days ago," Strange protested. "I didn't even know this place existed."
As if on cue, Metalhead strode forward with a clank, standing next to Fury and saluting. "At ease," Fury said, and Metalhead walked off. "I had the bunker built after the Skrull Invasion," Fury told them.
"So what's the plan, Agent Eye Patch?" Mikey asked.
The room went silent, as everyone stared awkwardly at Mikey. Fury glared at the orange turtle, who gulped. "Okay, yeah, I'll admit that one was pretty lame. Give me time, and I'll come up with a totally kickbutt nickname for you, bro."
"Who's the frog?" Wolverine asked, pointing at Mikey.
"Anthropomorphic turtle, actually," Tony Stark said, striding forward. "And he's with me. And if you want a plan, I got one." He cleared his throat and counted off on his fingers. "Step one, we start to procreate." He looked pointedly at Scarlet Witch when he said "procreate." "Step two, we build a new species of superhumans. Step three, in about twenty-two years we go get the crazy Asgardian. Any questions?"
"I'm glad you take the end of the world so lightly, Mr. Stark, but the rest of us don't share in your sense of humor," Fury said, turning his glare on the ex-billionaire.
Kirby O'Neil had made his way over to the display case, followed by Dr. Strange. Strange took one look at the object in the case and his eyes widened. "Is that the Ultimate Nullifier?" he asked.
"That would be a yes," said Reed Richards, who had approached from their left along with his wife Sue Richards.
Kirby wrinkled his brow. "What's that?"
"The most powerful weapon in the universe," said Sue. "It can completely and utterly eliminate any target the wielder chooses, and—if the wielder's mind isn't powerful enough—the wielder himself. It can destroy entire time-lines from beginning to end."
"Jeez," Kirby said. "We're not there yet, are we?"
"I won't even entertain the thought," Fury said.
As Strange turned, Captain America approached him, and the two shook hands. "Doctor," Cap said.
"Captain," Strange replied.
Cap grinned. "Just need a priest and we can walk into a bar."
Strange snorted back a laugh.
"Are there any doctors here?" Splinter asked Fury. "My son has been injured for quite some time now. We have done all we can for him, but his leg is still broken."
"Follow me," Fury said, motioning Splinter after him. Raph hobbled along, and Doctor Strange came too. Fury led them down a small tunnel to a back room. The door opened and out stepped a young woman, very beautiful, with her long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore hospital scrubs underneath a black high-necked cape, and fixed Raph with her green eyes. "Another patient, Director?" she asked.
"May I introduce you to Linda Jane Carter, aka the Night Nurse," Fury said, gesturing at the woman. "Brilliant young medical student once rescued by the city's costumed champions dedicates her life to their care. A skilled physician, she secretly dreams of one day becoming a 'super hero' herself, etcetera, etcetera."
"I have no interest in ever joining your little club, Fury," Night Nurse said.
"Of course." Fury looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm sure that cape is just part of your Florence Nightingale cosplay."
She grinned. "Keep it up, Director, and the next time you come to me for help after a black ops HYDRA assassin gives you two sniper rounds to the chest, I might leave an earring in one of your arteries." She bent over Raph. "How long have you been walking on that leg?"
Raph grunted as he shifted in his crutches. "About a week, I'd say." The pressure on his injury was too much, and he collapsed, dropping his crutches. "Nnn!"
"Raphael!" Splinter said, dropping to the floor and holding his son.
"Let's get him inside," Night Nurse said, helping Splinter and Doctor Strange carry Raphael into the room. It was a small makeshift operating room. An operating table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by monitors and diagnostic equipment. An IV bag hung from a rack next to the table.
They managed to get Raph up onto the table. "Right." Night Nurse bent over Raph's form. "Blood type?"
"My son is B Postive, and I carry the universal donor," Splinter said. "Unless my current situation as a mutant rat would preclude me, I am—"
"Fine," Night Nurse said. "How about medical history? You ever have any major surgeries, Raphael?"
"No," Raph said. "Unless you count my turtle genes being sliced and diced together to turn me into a walking talking freakshow."
Night Nurse smiled. "All right, Raphael, just breathe deep." She placed a mask over his face and pumped ether through the breathing tube. Raph was out in seconds. After putting on gloves and a face mask, and giving one to Splinter and Doctor Strange, she grabbed her instrument tray and started to cut open Raph's leg to set the break.
Doctor Strange watched her progress intently. "Careful," he warned. "Another millimeter and you'll open his femoral artery."
"Thanks, but you're not the only doctor in the room," Night Nurse said as she deftly sliced around the vein with her scalpel. "'Night Nurse' is just catchier than 'Night General Practitioner'."
While Splinter watched his son being operated on, the rest of the heroes gathered in the main room talking. Stark turned as Nick Fury entered the room again. "What's the plan, Fury?" Stark asked. "For real. You're down here in a doomsday scenario. You're the man with the plan, what's the plan?"
Fury leaned forward. "You're standing on it. Database, Operation Kronos clearance for all beings in room. Director Override: Fury, Nicholas J."
"Request acknowledged," a feminine AI voice said. A scanner came out from the ceiling and scanned all the superheroes in the room, granting them S.H.I.E.L.D. clearance for what they were about to see.
They looked down at the floor. Iron Man was standing on top of a long transparent panel, and as he backed up off of it the screen lit up and shot a holographic image into the air above it. The image was a map of the globe, sprinkled with red dots. Most of the dots were in North America, but several of them were in Russia and Europe.
"What do all those dots mean?" Casey asked.
"They're coordinates," Fury said. "Every super hero who has ever come up on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar is injected with microscopic trackers into their bloodstream. The trackers' locations can only be seen by me, up till five seconds ago. If we want to get our world back, we are going to need more than just us."
The globe expanded, zooming in to some of the dot locations and displaying names. April caught a glimpse of several names. Pym, Henry. Barton, Clint. Shostakov, Alexei. And many more. "The plan is we increase our numbers and train for a few weeks before heading up to Loki and stopping him for all time," Fury continued. "For that, we are going to need firepower and stealth. And tech knowhow."
Fury turned back to the group. "We'll go out in groups, three at a time. It isn't a good idea to spread our numbers too thin, so we'll always have a team back here as the last line of defense."
The map zoomed in on one of the red dots, its location coming up as Siberia. "Siberia," Fury said. "Four trackers located around a remote research facility."
Next the map switched over to a red dot blinking in Eastern Europe. "Mystical forces have been spotted in the Transylvanian mountains," said Fury.
The map switched suddenly to a cluster of dots on the Mexico/US border. "A caravan of mutants, headed for El Paso, Texas."
"Mutants?" Wolverine scowled. "I better handle this one."
"Count me in, Logan," said Storm.
"I'm with you, too," Cyclops added.
"And me," April said. "I want to help in any way I can."
Wolverine gave April a strange look. "I don't know where you're from, girl, but where I go, things ain't never pretty."
April returned his stare. "Don't worry. This girl can take care of herself. I'm coming, like it or not."
Wolverine rolled his eyes. "Alright. But I sure hope you can keep up."
Rhodey dropped the mask on his War Machine suit, which closed over his face with a metallic clang. "I'll take a team to Siberia," he said. "Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, you're with me."
"Yes!" said Spider-Man. "I need some fresh air."
"So do I," Casey added. "No offense, Doc, but being cooped up in your mansion all day long for about a week straight drove me crazy."
"None taken," said Strange.
"Doctor, you'll be coming with me to Transylvania," said Fury. "Reed, I want your team with me, too. The world's smartest man and the Master of Mystic Arts are two people I want to have on my team going up against magic."
Mikey raised his hand. "You'll probably also want someone who's read every horror comics issue from Brooklyn to Queens," he said. "I know a little thing or two about magical monsters and mysterious mutants. Can I come? Pleeeease?"
Fury sighed. "Alright. But you're on probation, turtle. If you screw this up, you're staying in the base for a long time."
Mikey popped a salute. "Yes sir, One-Eyed Eagle!"
"And knock off the nicknames," Fury added. "Alright, teams, we've got three Quinjets in the hangar below. You can use the scanners to pick up signals from the trackers, but no comm systems; we can't risk being detected. We're flying blind. The rest of you, if we're not back in twelve hours, burn this place to the ground and move out."
The Quinjet ducked down out of the clouds, giving Casey Jones his first good look at Siberia. In every direction, all he saw was white. The place was a winter wonderland. Snow and ice covered everything as far as the eye could see. "Wow," he said. "I didn't know there was this much snow in the world."
"Kinda reminds me of New York in the wintertime," Spider-Man said, pulling his mask down over his face.
"Cut the chatter, you two," said Rhodey, piloting the Quinjet. "We're going to land as close to this place as we can, so be ready for action."
"This place looks pretty calm to me," said Scarlet Witch.
"We'll see when we get a bit closer," Rhodey said. "Whoever the trackers belonged to, they were unable to get this far."
"Sure is beautiful," said Spider-Man.
The Quinjet landed on a smooth patch of snow and the landing ramp lowered. Casey was the first to hit the snow, glad he had brought his extra jacket. "Sure was beautiful," he corrected. They could see the research station, set atop a large snowy mountainside just up ahead, but much of it was buried under a large structure made of pure ice and snow. "What is that thing?" he asked, pointing.
"The source of the trackers," said Rhodey, scanning it with his War Machine suit. "According to Fury, after New York and S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, Loki's army split up. Those Frost Giant creatures we saw in New York came here, and turned Russia into a new ice age."
"As cool as it would be to have mammoths and sabertooth tigers walking around again," Spider-Man said, "I'm pretty sure the people living here would object."
"Watch out, Frost Giants," Casey said, sliding his painted hockey mask over his face. "Casey Jones is bringing the heat."
Rhodey grabbed a hold of Casey and took off with his War Machine armor, lifting them both into the air. Scarlet Witch blasted red psionic energy from her hands, lifting her up into the air after the two. Spider-Man used his webbing to climb the cliff.
They reached the top of the cliff and crouched down behind a snow-covered rock. Rhodey scanned the outside of the research station with his suit. "I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered.
"I'd be worried if you didn't," Spider-Man piped up.
"Relax," Casey said. "It's a couple of Frost Giants. We'll be fine."
"These Frost Giants are fighters," said War Machine. "I saw them in action back in New York, during the invasion. We'll have to hit them fast and hard."
"There's a lot of Frost Giants around," said Spider-Man. "This place is pretty well defended for an abandoned research station."
"Look at that!" Casey laughed. "Parker's got the tactical analysis on lockdown."
"Shh!" said Spider-Man. "You're not supposed to use my real name in public."
"Oh, sorry, dude," said Casey. "I mean, Spider-Man's got tactical—"
"Stay quiet," said Scarlet Witch. The team set off on foot, sneaking closer and closer towards the research station's open doors. Two Frost Giants stood on guard outside.
War Machine activated his suit's audio enhancers, listening in on their conversation. "The demands of the Frost Giant Empire have outgrown the supply of our subjects," said one of them. "King Karstaag has ordered the people to double their production immediately."
"Our armies must be well fed," said the other. "Their numbers are vital to Loki's plans in the Southern Reaches."
"If you're gonna shoot 'em, let's get it over with," said Casey.
Scarlet Witch unleashed a blast of psionic energy from her fingers, snapping his head back and knocking him out cold. But the noise attracted others, and soon they were discovered. "Get them!" the Frost Giants shouted, as they charged from every direction. They were able to generate weapons on their forearms as hand-to-hand combat was their specialty.
Casey blocked a strike from one before he struck it in the face on the backswing of his hockey stick. The giant grunted, but didn't go down. War Machine had taken to the air, and was using his machine guns to bring down more of them. "Use a smoke grenade!" Spider-Man called, swinging through the air as he webbed and kicked the giants. "They can't see through it!"
War Machine launched a smoke pellet, and disoriented, the giants stumbled about in the dark. Fighting blind, they were easy targets for War Machine's HUD. The heroes pushed their way into the throne room of the palace, now in a large cavernous room lined with four ice sculptures. With horror, Casey realized that the sculptures were the heroes they'd been looking for.
"The Winter Guard," Scarlet Witch breathed. "They've been captured."
On the throne sat a tall Frost Giant, with blue skin and piercing red eyes, who laughed as he saw the heroes enter. "Now the heroes come to me?" he said. "Ymir's blessing is truly upon me, Karstaag, ruler of the Frost Giants. I will gain much favor with Loki when I deliver you four to him as well, to be dealt with."
"Sorry," said Spider-Man. "Frost Giant delivery service isn't really my go-to. Usually I stick to FedEx."
More Frost Giants poured into the room, and the heroes were back in the thick of the action. War Machine flew over to the heroes and turned on his laser, melting through the thick ice. "Form up around War Machine," said Spider-Man. "Keep the giants off him while he gets the Winter Guard free!"
"At least make it a challenge," said Casey, as he skated across the icy throne room, knocking Frost Giants down with his hockey stick and pucks.
Karstaag stepped from his throne, as his forearms became covered in thick icy blades. He leaped into the air and punched the ground, sending a shockwave of ice rippling across the floor. The shockwave struck Casey, and he wiped out on his skates, falling hard and sliding across the ice.
Before he could move, Karstaag charged, grabbing Casey's arm and inflicting a severe frostbite on the boy's skin. Casey screamed as the skin where Karstaag's hand touched turned black, giving him excruciating pain. He quickly ejected the taser on his glove and zapped Karstaag with it. The Frost Giant stumbled back, as Casey caught his breath, gritting his teeth in pain from the frostbite. "Don't let these freaks touch you!" he shouted as he skated away.
Spider-Man swung down towards Karstaag, firing blasts of webbing at him. "We have got to do something about that icy personality," he said, dodging the Frost Giant's attacks. "How about a toy line? You'd make a darn cute plushie."
Karstaag's eyes blazed in fury. "What is a plushie?!" he roared as he flung ice spikes at Spider-Man.
"Lost in translation," Spider-Man said as he webbed out of the way, spinning in the air to dodge the spikes. "Could you stop? I'm not really feeling a snow cone right now."
"Fine!" Karstaag said. "Joke before you die!"
Scarlet Witch had used her energy to create a red energy field around her and War Machine, protecting them from the Frost Giants. Suddenly a long energy spike materialized from the ground inside the forcefield and stabbed Scarlet Witch in the leg. She screamed and her concentration broke, and the forcefield disappeared.
The Frost Giants charged, but Casey skated quickly forward. "Keep away from her, you frosty freaks!" he yelled as he batted a handful of explosive hockey pucks at them. The hockey pucks blew up in the giants' faces, knocking them back.
War Machine's laser finally melted the ice, and the Winter Guard were freed. They fell to the floor, catching their breath. One of them, a man dressed in a red-and-white spandex costume, climbed to his feet. "Avengers?" he asked.
"Not quite," Spider-Man said. "We're like the B-Team."
"Is good to see you," the man said, as they all got up. "What happened?"
"We'll explain later, Red Guardian," said War Machine. "Right now, we need to focus on getting you guys out of here."
"Run?" asked one of them, a giant hulking bear covered in shaggy brown fur. "Perhaps for you, comrades, but Ursa Major does not retreat from fight!" Ursa Major charged into a crowd of Frost Giants, toppling them like bowling pins.
"Get back, beast!" Karstaag yelled, swinging his ice mace in circles as he leaped for Ursa Major. The giant bear rolled under the attack, snarling as he tackled the Frost Giant king.
"Beast?" Ursa Major asked. "Do not call me a beast. It makes me feel not cuddly." Grabbing the giant with his mouth, he shook him like a ragdoll before tossing him through the ice wall with a roar. Karstaag screamed as he fell hundreds of feet to the snow below.
"We cannot leave, Avengers," said a woman with blonde hair and a form-fitting black and yellow suit, her hands eclipsed by black energy. "This facility holds Russia's entire nuclear arsenal. The Frost Giants have tried to take it, and we were defending it when you arrived."
"Darkstar is right," said the last member of the Winter Guard, in a red suit of armor similar to the Iron Man suits named Crimson Dynamo.
"Okay," said War Machine. "So, we'll take down some Frost Giants and shut down the factory. Easy enough."
"If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say that," said Spider-Man, "I'd have college paid for before I even graduate."
"We will figure it out," said Red Guardian. "We always do."
Casey laughed as he skated back towards the group. "You're new around here, Red Guardian, so let me tell ya something. Nothing ever goes to plan when Casey Jones is around."
With the Frost Giants eliminated, the heroes regrouped in the center of the room. "We must get to the facility's central terminal," said Crimson Dynamo. "We can shut down facility's power from there."
"Da," said Ursa Major. "Just need to get past all these Frost Giants. Not problem for me."
The Winter Guard ran down a maze of tunnels frosted over with ice, and the rest of the heroes followed behind. They finally arrived at the center terminal and were greeted by a group of Frost Giants.
As they battled, Casey bolted for the terminal and stood in front of it. So many buttons, and switches . . . he gulped.
"You know what you're doing, right?" War Machine asked, blasting a Frost Giant.
"Uh, yeah! Of course!" Casey said, staring at the panels. One of the buttons, a flashing red one, looked a lot like a power button. He pressed it, and a Russian female voice announced over the loudspeakers: "Unauthorized input detected. Security lockdown initiated."
Red Guardian glared at him. "Nice."
Casey held up his hands defensively. "Hey, looked like a power button to me. And I've never been good at speaking Russian." He pulled his mask down over his face and tased a Frost Giant with his glove.
"Okay, new plan," said Red Guardian, slamming a Frost Giant in the face with his shield. "This facility runs on lava, pumped up from Earth's core."
"What are you going to do?" asked War Machine.
"Improvise," Red Guardian said. "You just get us a ride out of here."
War Machine nodded. "I'll be back and waiting for you with the Quinjet." He took off down the tunnel, flying at rocket speed.
Red Guardian looked around. "The rest of you, with me. We must get to the pump room."
They followed the Winter Guard deeper into the facility, passing by rows and rows of nuclear missiles being mechanically assembled on launch equipment. "Wasn't this place supposed to be abandoned?" asked Casey.
As they entered the pump room, they heard a female robotic voice say, "Lava systems are at 100 percent and pumps are functional. Please monitor their stability to avoid catastrophic overflow."
"Those lava pumps are just what we need," said Red Guardian.
"What is your plan?" asked Crimson Dynamo.
"I'm working on it," said Red Guardian, as the group charged into the room. The room was a series of catwalks, suspended dozens of feet over a giant pool of glowing hot molten lava. The Frost Giants monitoring the pumps looked up in surprise before they charged at the intruders.
"Well, whatever plan is, it would be great if it did not get us killed," said Ursa Major, roaring as he swiped a Frost Giant off the catwalk. The Frost Giant disappeared in the lava with a scream.
Red Guardian ran over to one of the system panels. "Now, then, let us see what this does," he muttered, pulling some switches and overheating the pumps. The pumps burst, and the lava began rising visibly.
"Lava pumps operating at 200 percent," announced the AI. "Overflow imminent."
The Winter Guard stared at their leader in shock. "Problem solved," he said, shrugging.
"You're flooding the factory with lava?" Darkstar asked.
"No," said Red Guardian. "I am shutting it down."
"With lava," said Crimson Dynamo. "What about the missiles? President Karpov wants them for Mother Russia."
"I'll apologize later," Red Guardian said. "We cannot let Loki have these weapons."
The team ran as fast as they could out of the room, taking out the few Frost Giants that crossed their path. Every catwalk they stepped on shook with explosions as the entire factory began to shut down.
"Attention all personnel," said the female voice. "Lava dispersion rates increasing. Assemblies at risk. Evacuation is recommended. Be advised, lava levels are rising. Assembly Blocks A and B should be evacuated immediately."
As they entered another room, part of the catwalk gave way, and Casey tumbled off the edge. "Ahh!" he screamed, as he began the long fall to the lava below.
"I gotcha, I gotcha!" said Spider-Man, launching a stream of web onto Casey's back. He pulled, trying to hold Casey up, but his feet slipped and he fell as well. Scarlet Witch grabbed them both with her telepathy and brought them back up to the catwalk.
"Don't stop!" she said. The lava was rising rapidly, filling the tunnels and passageways behind them. In a mad dash, they bolted for the facility's main entrance. As the lava was about to overtake them, they burst out into the snow, sliding down the side of the mountain.
With a roar, the Quinjet burst through the skies overhead and flew past them, coming to a hover near the edge of the cliff. The landing ramp in the rear lowered, and the heroes' momentum carried them inside the Quinjet. They landed in a heap on top of each other in the seating area as War Machine hit the throttle and carried them up and away.
They got to their feet. "Thank you for your help, Avengers," said Red Guardian, shaking Spider-Man's hand. "We have not been properly introduced. We are the Winter Guard. I am Red Guardian. These are my comrades, Darkstar, Crimson Dynamo, and Ursa Major."
"Please to meet you," said Darkstar.
"Why did you come save us?" asked Ursa Major.
"We'll explain on the way," said War Machine. "Did you get Nick Fury's message?"
"No," said Darkstar. "The last thing I remember is the invasion. We fought alongside Russia's military to stop Loki's army from invading our country."
"President Karpov sent us to secure Russia's top-secret nuclear facility," said Crimson Dynamo. "We were overpowered by Frost Giants. That was almost a week ago."
"Well, at least we've stopped Loki from getting his hands on those," said Casey. "That'll set that maniac back a few steps."
"Let's hope so," War Machine said grimly, as the Quinjet flew back to the Savage Land.